Instead of replying to the details of the Rudd-Swan Budget, I decided this year to use their backward-looking, future-phobic presentation as the launching pad for a broader discussion of what we might do if we had a Government with the vision and guts necessary to take on the twin challenges of climate change and peak [...]
It is sometimes forgotten that the supposed objective of education is to open the door to a more fulfilling life.
The concept of the under-performing school is simply a tool for politicians to disguise their own unwillingness to provide appropriate resources to the education system to help lessen the impact of social inequality. Read more »
Australia has relatively high levels of education, and our students perform well in international achievement tests, but there is an unacceptable gap between the performance of our best students and our weakest, many of whom are pooled in schools that are hard to staff.
The National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) program aims to achieve a strategic and collaborative approach to investment in world-class research facilities, networks and infrastructure that are accessible to researchers and meet their long-term needs. NCRIS provides Australian researchers with major research facilities, supporting infrastructure and networks necessary for world-class research amounting to $542 million over 2005-2011. Responses need to be in by Wednesday 14 May.
When politicians call for increased teaching of Asian languages (presumably with an emphasis on Chinese), I wonder if they have thought of the difference between written and spoken capabilities.
For one thing, there seem to be genetic differences between populations that use pitch as part of the spoken language (tonal languages, e.g. Mandarin), and those that don’t (non-tonal languages e.g. Proto-Indo-European). Occidental populations thus face significant hurdles to learning spoken Mandarin.
The following is a work of fiction and any resemblance to an actual Australian university is purely a coincidence. 
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A group of researchers at an Australian university, inspired by Olaf Stapledon’s novel Sirius about an intelligent dog, decided to attempt to genetically engineer a tiger with human intelligence. Read more »
This report investigates the role that vocational education and training (VET) can play in the transition from welfare to work. Case studies showed that VET can, and often does, help people move into paid work. However, target groups
have varied needs and the study concludes that the VET sector has more to do in catering for these subgroups.
Improving cognitive skills of young children has been suggested as a possible strategy for equalising opportunities across racial groups.
This background note presents some of the key research in the area of early childhood intervention and education that has informed Australian policy making. It also provides an overview of current preschool education provision in Australia and recent policy developments.
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